Admits Receiving Rp 440 Million, Judge Mangapul: Distributed Before Ronald Tannur's Verdict

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Judge Mangapul admitted to receiving 36,000 Singapore dollars, equivalent to Rp 440.3 million, prior to the reading of the acquittal verdict in an assault case that resulted in death, with the defendant being Gregorius Ronald Tannur, at the Surabaya District Court. However, the defendant in the bribery case involving Ronald Tannur's acquittal emphasized that he did not know the source of the money provided by Erintuah Damanik, who served as the presiding judge in the murder case.

The confession was delivered by Mangapul while testifying in the continued trial of the bribery case involving the acquittal of Ronald Tannur, with the defendants being former Supreme Court official Zarof Ricar; Ronald Tannur's mother, Meirizka Widjaja; and Ronald's lawyer, Lisa Rachmat. The trial, held at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday (3/3/2025), was presided over by Chief Judge Rosihan Juhriah Rangkuti, accompanied by Purwanto S. Abdullah and Sigit Herman Binaji as associate judges.

In addition to Mangapul, in the witness examination hearing, the public prosecutor also presented Judge Erintuah Damanik and the Director of PT Indra Forexindo (a money changer company), Agus Sardjono, as witnesses.

"So, did the witness ever receive 36,000 Singapore dollars from Mr. Erintuah Damanik, and is it true that this receipt is related to Gregorius Ronald Tannur?" asked the prosecutor.

Mangapul explained that Erintuah did not explicitly state that the money he handed over was related to the Ronald Tannur case. According to Mangapul, Erintuah only mentioned that it was a token of gratitude.

In addition, the money was distributed after the three judges concluded their judicial panel deliberation or after the prosecutor's reading of the charges. During the judges' deliberation session, the three had agreed to deliver an acquittal verdict for Ronald Tannur.

However, Mangapul did not remember the exact date of the distribution of the money. What is certain is that the money was distributed before the reading of Ronald Tannur's acquittal verdict which was held on July 24, 2024.

"It wasn't specifically said that. It was just, 'This is a thank you' because a few days before we (deliberation) the decision was acquittal. So the thank you, he said, was finally shared," said Mangapul.

Therefore, Mangapul concluded that the money was related to the Ronald Tannur case. Because, only in that case did he, Erintuah and judge Heru Hanindyo together become the panel of judges. There were no other cases that Mangapul handled with Erintuah and Heru Hanindyo at that time.

However, Mangapul admitted that he did not know for sure the origin of the money given to him. Likewise, the total money of 140,000 Singapore dollars distributed to a number of judges in the Ronald Tannur case, whether it came from Lisa Rachmat or not. Because, Erintuah never conveyed the source of the money and he also did not ask Erintuah.

Mangapul revealed that 140,000 Singapore dollars had been distributed, including to the Head of the Surabaya District Court, Rudi Suparmono. Rudi was said to have received 20,000 Singapore dollars. Erintuah received 38,000 Singapore dollars and Heru received 36,000 Singapore dollars. The rest was distributed to the clerk.

According to Mangapul, he has returned the money to the Attorney General's Office investigators. He also admitted that he never used the money because it was stored in a bag. "I didn't use it, I carried it in a backpack, it was still intact," he said.

In the trial, Mangapul also recounted his first meeting with Lisa in December 2023 at her apartment, Gunawangsa, Surabaya. The meeting was facilitated by Jeffry, a relative of former Surabaya District Court judge, Martin Ginting. Jeffry told him that someone named Lisa Rachmat wanted to meet.

According to Mangapul, at the first meeting, Lisa only introduced herself and claimed to be a lawyer for a murder case. At the meeting, Mangapul admitted that he did not know that Lisa was the lawyer for the defendant Ronald Tannur.

However, when she left, Lisa left a white envelope on the table. The envelope contained Singapore dollar bills worth around Rp 7-8 million. She did not know what the money was for, so she immediately returned it to Jeffry.

Mangapul said, Lisa came back to him at his apartment in January 2024. At that time, Lisa asked about his health condition living alone. The lawyer also offered Mangapul ginger to maintain his health.

"They came back for the third time in early March, if I'm not mistaken. There he came and also left the herbs," said Mangapul.

Regarding the testimony of witness Mangapul, Zarof and Meirizka stated that they had no objections. Meanwhile, Lisa denied that the 140,000 Singapore dollars came from her.